The State Bank of India plans to raise customer base of its wealth management service targeting Huns (high net worth individuals) under SBI Exclusif to 35,000 by year end from the present 3,500, a senior official said today.

The country's largest commercial bank started the service in January last year and has nine exclusive physical centres across the country, SBI's Managing Director (National Banking) Rajnish Kumar said.

It plans to open four more such centres by the end of this year, he said.

"We feel that the country is growing and there are people of HNI category who want some special service and advisory services, therefore we decided to create a separate business vertical under wealth management unit," Kumar, who was here to inaugurate an SBI Exclusif centre in Ahmedabad, told reporters.

"We have enrolled 3,500 customers in one year, and assets under management are Rs 3,000 crore. And going forward, this year scaling up is happening. This year our target will be almost 35,000 customers," he said.

Nearly 35 per cent of these customers are serviced remotely, he said.

He said the bank plans to open 13 SBI Exclusif centres by the end of the year.

"This is the 9th centre and four more will come up this year in different cities. We want to have a more focused approach, more customers, and then we move forward. We need qualified people for this, so we don't want to stretch is too much," he said.

He said the bank employs 900 relationship managers under this segment and plans to double the number by the end of the year.

The segment provides services to individuals with monthly salary of Rs 2 lakh and above, having housing loans of Rs 1 crore or more, or Rs 3 lakh in asset management, among others, he said.

On credit demand, Kumar said it is yet to pick up on corporate side but the housing loan and consumer growth is good at 18 per cent.

"The credit demand is yet to pick up from corporates, but housing loan and consumer growth is good at 18 per cent and we expect it will remain so," he said.

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